1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to packer inflation systems and more particularly to the valves which control the inflation of packers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The control of the inflation of well packers is important to obtain integrity between the packer and the well bore for purposes of working within the bore. It is known in the art to inflate packers by various mechanisms. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,503,445, issued Mar. 31, 1970, to K. L. Cochran et al., entitled "Well Control During Drilling Operations"; U.S. Pat. No. 3,351,349, issued Nov. 7, 1967, to D. V. Chenoweth, entitled "Hydraulically Expandable Well Packer"; U.S. Pat. No. 3,373,820, issued Mar. 19, 1968, to L. H. Robinson, Jr. et al., entitled "Apparatus for Drilling with a Gaseous Drilling Fluid".
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,437,142, issued Apr. 8, 1969, to George E. Conover, entitled "Inflatable Packers for External Use on Casing and Liners and Method of Use", there is disclosed an inflatable packer for external use on tubular members such as casings, liners, and the like. A valving arrangement is disclosed therein for containing fluid within the interior of the inflatable member after it has been inflated to prevent its return to the tubular member.
Arrangements of valving have been known in the prior art to prevent further communication between the interior of the tubular member and the interior of the inflatable element after the inflatable element has been inflated and set in a well bore. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,427,651, issued Feb. 11, 1969, to W. J. Bielstein et al., entitled "Well Control"; U.S. Pat. No. 3,542,127, issued Nov. 24, 1970, to Bill C. Malone, entitled "Reinforced Inflatable Packer with Expansible Back-up Skirts for End Portions"; U.S. Pat. No. 3,581,816, issued June 1, 1971, to Bill C. Malone, entitled "Permanent Set Inflatable Element"; U.S. Pat. No. 3,818,922, issued June 25, 1974, to Billy C. Malone, entitled "Safety Valve Arrangement for Controlling Communication Between the Interior and Exterior of a Tubular Member"; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,776,308, issued Dec. 4, 1973, to Bill C. Malone, entitled "Safety Valve Arrangement for Controlling Communication Between the Interior and Exterior of a Tubular Member".
Inflatable packers have also been used in other operations, such as sealing the annular space between a jacket and a piling. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,427, issued Dec. 20, 1977, to Erwin E. Hoffman, entitled "Seal Arrangement and Flow Control Means Therefor".
The seals that are used in valves, such as in Malone, are usually hardened rubber. Such rubber tends to extrude under extreme pressure differential across the rubber and cause friction between rubber and metal that adversely affects valve operation. None of the prior art, however, provides for mechanism for equalizing pressures across the seals of the valves used to inflate packers to prevent such extrusion.